One Can Hope
by VirendraLione
Summary: The trio are helped back to Spain by a merchant vessel, but it doesn't take long before Miguel starts to wonder about the future whilst Tulio and Chel only seem to be thinking of the present...and one another... Disheartened, Miguel finds himself at the bar and it is there he meets a woman who promises him the voyage of a lifetime...Mostly Miguel x OC. T for safety.


_I do not own The Road to El Dorado, I have merely told myself I have spent too long playing the PS1 game today that I should do something constructive and well this is it._

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**The Road to El Dorado.**

**One Can Hope.**

******_Back in Spain, Miguel thinks on what is to become of their odd little group. Chel and Tulio don't appear to be thinking of anything more than each other. It is then that Miguel meets a woman who tells him of an opportunity for adventure. Miguel's appetite is whetted, but can he convince the rest of the group to join him?_**

**Chapter One: Homecoming.**

The rowboat hadn't exactly been ample enough on the way to the island and now they were asking it to support the weight of another person and an annoyingly persistent armadillo.

Getting to the boat had been difficult enough; not only had they had to find their way back to the beach, but they had also had to formulate a cunning plan to steal the rowboat a second time from beneath the noses of Cortes' men.

Granted, there had been only a handful of them, but a handful of men bedecked in armour and wielding swords of a limb-severing calibre were more than a match for their frightfully unequipped group of three…And Miguel did even want to imagine what the Spanish steel would do to Chel's scarcely protected flesh.

The plan had consisted of distraction and incapacitation rather than anything that would provoke hand to hand combat.

Eventually, their efforts had paid off and they were able to seize the vessel, grab a few provisions, a sword or two and disembark the beach before the rest of Cortes' army made it back, enraged with betrayal and baying for blood sport.

At first, they had stayed closed to the shoreline, skirting the beach and subsequent cliff faces in an effort to avoid detection from anyone on the armada of anchored galleons who might have been watching.

It had taken them almost the whole day to turn the land mass into a tiny speck on the horizon and this had put everyone in rather sullen spirits, including their animal comrades.

Having no other choice but to keep going, they had each taken it in turns to row and after a day or two more had given up and were letting the ocean chart their course.

A chance encounter with a merchant ship, named the Aurora, had - as the ship's captain imparted with a hearty laugh - literally saved their skins. Turns out he had picked up the unusual group off the coast of a particularly nasty little isle, the inhabitants of which were ruthless cannibals. A member of the crew had vouched for this information with a darkened expression and a wave of a stump which had once been home to his left hand.

At this, the trio expressed their gratitude to the captain and crew and had only been too happy to earn their keep aboard the vessel on their way back to berth (which, as luck would have it, was the city of Barcelona.).

Miguel made himself useful as crew, passing the time scrubbing the decks, hauling ropes and daydreaming in the crow's nest. He was sure Tulio would have joined him had he not been busy keeping a watchful eye on Chel. She had been put to work caring for the livestock and cargo, since she knew nothing of sailing, but quite a lot of the exotic species of flora and fauna that was the Aurora's latest haul. Tulio had not left her side the entire voyage, obviously wary of the crew's intentions towards the only female on board; some avoided her, superstitious and scared of her exotic origins whilst a few seemed only too interested in getting to know her better.

Tulio had been most fervent in his efforts to source some rather less revealing clothing for Chel. Initially, she had complained profusely about this, but towards the end of the journey had grown accustomed to the more comfortable - and, lets face it, warmer as they headed to slightly cooler and dryer climates - attire, swearing that she would never return to her native garb again. Miguel was sure he had seen Tulio's face fall a little at this revelation.

When they finally made port they had helped to unload the ship and had been handed a small bag of coin for their troubles. They had tried to refuse the offer, saying that they were forever in the captain's debt for saving their lives and could take no more, but the man had merely scoffed and told them they had earned it for their work aboard the vessel. He had left them with the promise of more work should they ever come looking for him.

Finding that they were suitably exhausted, the trio headed for the nearest inn and purchased two rooms.

Miguel had thought this a brilliant idea and, indeed, an opportunity for he and Tulio to discuss what they were going to do now they were back in Spain with only a handful of peseta's to their names and - for all he knew - possibly still wanted by the law.

Tulio and Chel, on the other hand, saw an opportunity for more privacy than they had been afforded on the Aurora and, it seemed, were busy engaged in discourse of their own.

So it was that Miguel found himself at the bar, nursing a glass of the sweetest moscatel he could order and thinking about the future by himself. Or possibly _a_ future by himself…on his own…without Tulio.

With a sigh he downed what was left of his glass and ordered another, knowing he had probably the whole night to himself before Tulio finally noticed he wasn't where he was supposed to be and came looking for him.

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**_Yes, I know, I know...but, I couldn't help it. Not really sure how this will turn out, but I feel sorry for Miguel and how he seemed to end up with nothing; Tulio got Chel in place of the gold, but what did Miguel get? Altivo? The armadillo (or Bibo as the game names him)? Poor guy. So I am writing this for him, even though Tulio will always remain my favourite of the pair. Hope you enjoy!_**


End file.
